Respiratory Pathologies

Question 1

Chronic obtrusive pulmonary disease (COPD)

Answer 1

• patients usually have a history of smoking
• laboured breathing (dyspnea( becomes progressively worse
• coughing and frequent pulmonary infections become common
• patients generally hypoxic, retained CO2 with respiratory acidosis, and ultimately develops respiratory failure

Question 2

Chronic bronchitis

Answer 2

• mucosa of lower respiratory passages becomes severely inflamed, creating more mucus
• excessive mucus production impairs ventilation and gas exchange
• chronic hypoxia and CO2 retention leads to cyanosis

Question 3

Emphysema “pink puffers”

Answer 3

• alveoli walls destroyed; remaining alveoli enlarged
• chronic inflammation promotes lung fibrosis, losing lung elasticity
• patients uses large amounts of energy to exhale; some air remains in the lungs
• overinflated lungs lead to permanently expanded barrel chest
• cyanosis develops later on

Question 4

Lung cancers

Answer 4

• adenocarcinoma
• squamous cell carcinoma
• small cell carcinoma
• leading cause of cancer death in adults
• aggressive cancer metastasizes rapidly

Question 5

Atelectasis

Answer 5

-lung collapse from plugged bronchiole leaving alveoli to absorb all the air from lack of surfactant

Question 6

Pneumothorax

Answer 6

-when intrapleural pressure = atmospheric pressure; lung collapses